Title: Reversal: A Shopping Trip

Author: meagan

Summary: Xander goes shopping for a tux. Follows "Jumping to Conclusions" (a few weeks later).

Spoilers: Let's just say everything, although at this point, it's really nothing.

Disclaimer: Of *course* they belong to someone else. I could never come up with characters like this. Specifically, they belong to Mutant Enemy, Fox, WB (even though they *really* don't deserve these guys after what they did to us in May), and anyone else I forgot.

Rating: G, I think.

Distribution: Please ask.

Feedback: Please.

Notes: I've been trying to make progress on this part for quite a while (about a month and a half), but it's just not cooperating. So I'm giving up. I can always put more stuff in another part, right?

Reversal 16: A Shopping Trip
By meagan

If you had asked him five years ago where he expected to be on that spring afternoon, he would never have guessed the way things turned out. A formal wear shop with his childhood friend, trying on tuxedos for his impending marriage to the ex-boyfriend of one of their best friends.

"Will, I need to ask you to do something for me."

Those words brought back some painful memories. All the times he used her for practice asking other girls out. But while those memories hurt, it seemed like they happened between two completely different people. Like she had watched those other people go through everything. Their lives were completely different now, and for that, she would be eternally grateful. Still, his words made her nervous. She waited for him to continue.

He took a deep breath, forcing his eyes to meet hers. "Would you be my best man? Um, woman? Whatever? Please? You're my best friend. I don't know what I would do without you. This is the most important thing that's ever happened -- is going to happen. I want you to be there beside me when Angel and I get married."

She shook her head. "Xander, I can't. I already promised Angel --"

"Oh, *great*. You can promise *Angel*, who you've known since high school, but you can't promise me, you can't even wait for me, who you've known since... When did we meet, anyway? I can't remember life without you." His whole body sagged, and he sat heavily on the bench in the dressing room.

"You're forgetting to ask the most important question." At his questioning look, she clarified. "*Why* can't I be your best man or maid of honor or whatever? Did it occur to you that there's a *reason* for it -- a reason that you will like? Things may be very different now, but I would never refuse you this request unless I thought the reason I was refusing was even better." Great. The crestfallen puppy was back. "Remember that afternoon before he proposed, when we were in the nursery, and you were convinced that he was going to just throw all of you away? And I told you he wouldn't -- make that couldn't -- do anything like that? The truth is, he and I had been talking about things for quite a while before he said anything to you." She sighed, kneeling in front of him and cradling his face with one hand so he would be forced to look at her. "Really, this isn't the time or place for this discussion. But he's been wanting this for a long time. I was trying to convince him to wait until the twins were a little older so they could be the flower kid and ring bearer, but he just can't. He needs this commitment now. And not just your commitment to him. He needs to show you how he feels about you. And this is the only way he can think of to do that."

A very small voice asked, "So why can't you do this for me? I don't care what you promised him. He can get Whistler or Spike to be his best man."

That made her laugh. "Actually, he already took care of his end of things." She released his face, her own growing serious. Happy but somber. She sat on the bench next to him. "One of the things that Angel was waiting for -- before he asked you to marry him -- was me."

"Will, he's not a bad guy anymore. You can forgive him. Giles did."

"Oh, so did I. A long time ago. But that's part of the discussion we'll have later." She wrapped his hand in hers as if to make sure he couldn't run away when she dropped her bombshell. "Right now, we're discussing the fact that I can't stand up for you at the wedding because Angel has asked me to marry you guys. He was waiting for me to be able to perform wedding ceremonies before he asked you. I know, he didn't bother to ask you if it was okay, but I didn't think you have any objection."

Shocked silence greeted her announcement. She turned her attention from their hands to his face and the tears streaming around his smile. "Wow."

Gently kissing his forehead as if he was a two-year-old who skinned his knee, she asked, "Now is it okay if I'm not an attendant?"

He smiled. "Yeah. I think I can handle this rejection. You have a good reason."

~~~ the end ~~~